The Savannah tribune. [volume] (Savannah [Ga.]) 1876-1960, 1887-09-17

CaAASus Wall you
''What is the nameq'
"Wilcox-Judge Wilcox. l brought
my Egyptian curios over for him to look
at, but some other night will do as
well"
She saw him depart without thought
Of how he entered, and the robbery was,
of course, discovered later on. The de-
tectives were instructed to let everything
drop to hunt down these slick fellows,
and there was any amount of jawing over
our i'll luck. We had every hotel and
boarding house under strict scrutiny,
but we could turn up no suspicious char
acters answering to the description of
these. The man who sat on the sill Of
the bath room window was said to have
long black whiskers. The one who
passed for Judge Wilcox had auburn
Burnsides, and was an unctuous sort of a
fellow Five hundred men could have
been found in a days hunt to answer
these descriptions. For many days the
Post Office was watched, strangers were
logged about, depots guarded, and gar
dens and concert halls looked after, but
we made no arrests. At least every
second night there was fresh robbery,
and every second day the papers had
opportunity to come out with a fresh ar
ticle and belabor us. We were seeming
ly doing all that men could do and our
position was truly uncomfortable The
climax came about in the oldest sort of
way. On one Of the fashionable thor
oughfares lived an old maid-that is, she
was one of family, being, if I remem-
Der right, the mans sister. She was
pretty well off, and always had several
hundred dollars in bureau drawer in
her room She had read about the
work of the gang, and was in state of
terror for fear the house would be visi-
ted. One day brilliant idea occurred
to her. She would capture one Of the
mob. She planned it that one of them
would climb up to her corner window
by means Of the conductor, enter with
out disturbing her, as she was sound
sleeper, and go for that money What
did she do but go out and buy steel
something big enough to hold a
fox. She got one Of the servants to set
it for her, and the open trap was placed
in the top bureau drawer, and the chain
led out through the back side and made
fast
Two nights passed without another
depreciation. We were keeping such
sharp lookout that the fellows had to be
more fly. On the third night, at exactly
a quarter of 10, the old maid was
aroused from her deep sleep by human
yell of pain, and she was no sooner on
end than she saw that she had caught
her man. He was down on his knees in
front of the bureau, and both hands
were fast in the trap. His first yell was
his only one. When he found the
woman was awake he calmly observed:
excuse me, but think Pm in the
wrong room. Please don't make any
disturbance about it."
"Who are you2o
"a friend of Wills, and we both
came home little sprung. Won't you
please help me to get ny hands loose?' |
There was VIII about the house
the mans own son-but he had not been /
out that evening, nor was he in the habit
Of drinking. Without getting out of |
bed the woman touched an electric but /
ton, and within ten minutes the house /
was aroused, and two policemen had the /
man in charge. The jaws of the trap /
had caught him about the wrists, and he 7
had suffered a good deal of pain. lie /,
was the Judge Wilcox chap, Burnsides, /
junction and ALL When taken to the +
station his whiskers were found to be
glued on, and he also had g false wig |
When these were removed he stood /
forth as pert and trim a thief as you
would wish to overhaul. lie turned out /
to be a New Orleans man named Davis, |
and was only 26 years old.
The capture Of Dayis's partner fol-
lowed swiftly, and also in curious way. |
AS train was about ready to leave for I
the North, spruce young fellow GENE !
into the baggage department at the depot |